


the prince and the fool

by manbun_zukka



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: !!!!, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff, I just hit 100 followers on tumblr, M/M, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt, so we're doing ten celebratory prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manbun_zukka/pseuds/manbun_zukka
Summary: I just hit 100 follwers on Tumblr, so I'll be doing ten drabbles for ten prompts in celebration!Chapter two prompt: 'finding out how zuko got his scar +zukka'The palace is always blessedly quiet at night. Zuko had forgone the traditional Fire Lord’s chambers and instead had a room that opened up to the turtleduck pond renovated, and he likes to sleep with the windows open and wind billowing in through the sheer red curtains. Sokka sleeps closest to the door, on Zuko’s left side, and he’s always curled in a protective arc around him, as if he’s trying to protect him from the rest of the world.Zuko loves the feeling of Sokka’s body curved around his. Relishes in it.He loves nights when Sokka’s soft breathing lulls him to sleep, loves nights when Sokka runs gentle fingers through his hair and whispers soothing words to him after a particularly hard day, loves any night he spends with Sokka, period.He loves Sokka.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 121





	1. Valentines Day

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go! First and foremost, I just wanna say a big thanks for 100 followers! It means a whole lot to me, and I hope you enjoy these little celebratory prompts!
> 
> This first one comes from @itszukkatime! Thanks, Sonny! <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy!  
> xx,  
> CJ

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck,” Zuko panted, swinging through the doorway of Suki’s house. “Suki!” he called, dropping his bag by the floor and running up the stairs towards his friend’s room. “I need help!”

“What’s up, Z?” she asked once he reached her room. Suki was splayed across the bed, eating an apple and scrolling through her phone.

“What day is Valentines day?” he asked, gasping for air. Zuko leaned against the dresser and wiped his brow. (Listen, he ran all the way there from the Jasmine Dragon, he was tired, okay?)

“Sunday, why?”

“Ah, fuck my life.” he quickly took the chopsticks out of his bun and started twirling the ends of his hair around his fingers, something that he only did when he was stressed. “Can you drive me to CVS?”

“Why am I the only one who has a car?” Suki moaned, launching herself up off the bed and across the room. She grabbed her keys off her dresser and turned to Zuko. “If I take you, you’ve got to get me Ben and Jerry’s.”

“Yes, yes, fine!” Zuko agreed, hurriedly twisting his hair back up. “Let’s go!”

They headed downstairs and out into the rain, running together to Suki’s car so as not to get wet. Once they had made it to warm, dry safety, Suki put on a girl in red playlist, and the two friends headed off for the pharmacy.

“Why exactly do you need to go to CVS?”

“There’s a  _ slight  _ possibility I forgot about Valentine's day.”

“Zuko, you ignorant slut.”

They reached the CVS, and Zuko practically ran to the craft isle, grabbing glue, glitter, markers, and card stock.

“If you need all this craft stuff, why didn’t we just go to the  _ craft store _ ?” Suki asked, looking at Zuko with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

“Suki, you of all people should know that chocolate is the only way to Sokka’s heart.” Zuko sighed, grabbing her wrist and tugging her to the candy aisle. They picked up a few different bars of a variety of chocolates, before swinging by the freezer aisle to get Suki her ice cream, and then checking out.

Once they pulled up to the front of TJD, Zuko reached across the center console to haul Suki into a hug, whispering his thanks into her ear.

\---

“Zuko…” Sokka whispered. “You made this? For me?”

Zuko blushed, looking down at the card. “I know it’s not much, but-”

Sokka cut him off by pressing his lips to his, smiling into the kiss. Zuko smiled coyly at him once he pulled away, relishing in the lingering warmth of Sokka’s lips on his.

“I love it, Zu.” he promised, tilting Zuko’s chin up so that he would look him in the eyes. “It’s perfect.”

The card was made of a long sheet of white card stock, folded into thirds. Each side was covered with polaroid pictures and quotes from different points of their relationship, the first side being their friendship, the second being the awkward flirting phase, and the third being their time spent together as a couple. On the back of the card, Zuko had handwritten a heartfelt note, his cramped handwriting filling almost the whole page.

_ Sokka, _

_ You are, in fact, the worst idea I've ever had. _

_ There's simply no other way to put it. Sokka, you have pulled me under. You have ensnared my senses and drowned my heart in a sea of you. Your smile, your laugh, your eyes, and your hair. You you you. Only you, Sokka. _

_ I have always loved quietly. I pronounce my love in quiet ways, I declare my love in quiet ways, I show my love in quiet ways. I love others quietly.  _

_ But you _ _ , _ _ Sokka. I loved you loudly. I still love you loudly. _

_ I loved you first as a friend. I loved you through card games and late night study sessions, through sleepless nights of texting and facetime, through watching rom coms with you and Suki, and criticising Glee with you and Toph. I loved you when we teamed up against Aang and Katara to make the perfect pie, and I loved you when we fell asleep on the couch during Cards Against Humanity. _

_ Then, Sokka, then I loved you as more. I loved you as the perfectly poetic boy who wrote stories about conquering the world with your found family, and I loved you as the boy who belted out Whitney Houstin songs whenever they came onto the radio. I could’ve written a play about you Sokka, because you cannot be contained to the confines of a page. No matter how much my love for you wanted to branch out, to send down roots and send up leaves to soak in the sunlight of your affection, I wouldn’t let it. Because I vowed to myself that I couldn’t lose you. _

_ And now, Sokka, I love you. I love you, plain and simple. I love you as an extension of myself, as a partner, as a friend, as you. Because you, Sokka, are something else. _

_ I will never understand the capacity of my heart, because it only seems to be able to swell larger with my affections for you. If my heart is a stream, then my love for you is a rushing river, too wide and brash to ever be contained. _

_ You, Sokka, are the worst idea I’ve ever had. _

_ Because I know, if I lose you, there will be such a wide and aching chasm in my heart where my love for you resides. Nothing else will ever be able to fill it. _

_ Impossibly yours. _

_ Zuko _

“My gift is gonna seem a bit sad compared to this, but I hope you’ll still like it.” Sokka mumbled, passing Zuko a small red bag.

He opened it to reveal another bag, marked  _ Zuko’s blend _ . Zuko opened the second bag and a sweet aroma filled the room, something that smelled like home, and warmth, and--

“Tea?” Zuko asked, looking up at his boyfriend with a smile stretched across his face. “You made me a blend?”

“Yeah,” Sokka smiled, blushing and looking down, just as Zuko had done a few minutes prior. “You always talked about your favorite teas and herbs and flowers that would make the perfect flavor, so I had your uncle help me combine them. Do you like it?”

“I love it, Sokka.” Zuko promised, tipping their foreheads together. “Almost as much as I love you.”


	2. scars and stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go again! this chapter was prompted by an anon ask: 'finding out how zuko got the scar +zukka'
> 
> thanks so much to whoever left it!
> 
> I've got three prompts in my inbox that are waiting to be filled, and another five slots to be filled, so if you like this make sure to drop by my inbox (@cj-thesuperdepressed-lesbian on Tumblr)
> 
> xx,  
> CJ

“Zu?” 

Sokka’s voice is quiet, floating away like a whisper on the evening wind.

Zuko looks up at him gently, love evident in his eyes. “What’s on your mind love?”

“I just-” Sokka pauses, wondering to himself how he should phrase this question. “I just love you. A lot. And I want you to feel like you’re able to talk to me about stuff. Like your scar. Did you know that we’ve been dating for almost a year now, and I still don’t know how you got it?”

Zuko turns so that he’s facing Sokka in bed instead of laying next to him, and considers his boyfriend’s question for a moment.

The palace is always blessedly quiet at night. Zuko had forgone the traditional Fire Lord’s chambers and instead had a room that opened up to the turtleduck pond renovated, and he likes to sleep with the windows open and wind billowing in through the sheer red curtains. Sokka sleeps closest to the door, on Zuko’s left side, and he’s always curled in a protective arc around him, as if he’s trying to protect him from the rest of the world.

Zuko loves the feeling of Sokka’s body curved around his. Relishes in it. 

He loves nights when Sokka’s soft breathing lulls him to sleep, loves nights when Sokka runs gentle fingers through his hair and whispers soothing words to him after a particularly hard day, loves any night he spends with Sokka, period.

He loves Sokka.   
  


Zuko loves nights like this, nights when they stay awake and talk in hushed voices for what could be hours, about anything and everything, until the deep and rumbling tones of Sokka’s voice lull him to sleep.

“Part of me figured that you knew how I got it.” Zuko says quietly after a minute, burrowing deeply into Sokka’s shoulder. “I don’t like to talk much about it, but I guess I had to tell the story to so many people that I just thought you knew it too. I was thirteen, and I spoke out of turn during a war meeting. Some general, a powerful Ozai supporter, had proposed this battle plan that involved sacrificing an entire front in order to win another battle. I thought it was bullshit-knew it was bullshit- but my father disagreed. He challenged me to an Agi Kai-” Sokka gasps quietly here, but Zuko continues, “- and me, being thirteen and over confident, agreed. I thought I’d be fighting the general, but when I showed up, my father was there. He wanted me to fight him, in a ritual that’s supposed to be to the death. But I refused. So, he took his hand to my face and lit it on fire. Simple as that. He banished me afterwards, but that ended up working out mostly against him, so jokes on Ozai, really.”

Sokka is looking at him like he’s hung the stars. His eyes are full of awe and respect, not of pity and sadness like so many of the people that Zuko had told his tale to before. 

Sokka reaches out a hand to brush against the scarred side of Zuko’s face, tucking a few stray hairs behind his ear. “That was a horrible thing for him to do,” he whispers finally, “And I’m so proud of you for the amazing job you’ve done running your country, despite it’s actions against you. I know I probably sound like Iroh right now,” he chuckles, “But I’m proud of you, goddammit. I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much. So much. Thank you for telling me.”

Zuko smiles at him, a sleepy, sated smile, and closes his eyes in satisfaction, drifting off to sleep with a gentle  _ ‘I love you’. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this! I went a bit more intospective than usual on this one, but I hope you still enjoyed it! If you did, feel free to leave a comment and kudos down below, and please drop a prompt into my inbox (I've still got five open slots! @cj-thesuperdepressed-lesbian on Tumblr!)
> 
> Thanks for stopping by with a read!
> 
> xx,  
> CJ

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all liked this! If you did, feel free to leave a comment and kudos down below, and make sure to look out for the next chapter! It should be coming soon!
> 
> Thanks again, Sonny, for the promt!
> 
> xx,  
> CJ


End file.
